This is a summary of 1959 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Events
Charts
The Official UK Singles Chart
Classical music: new works
Film and incidental music
Musical theatre
Musical films
Births
- 14 January â Chas Smash (Madness)
- 15 January â Pete Trewavas, bass player and songwriter
- 28 January â Dave Sharp (The Alarm)
- 3 February â Lol Tolhurst, drummer (The Cure, Presence, Easy Cure, and Levinhurst)
- 25 February â Mike Peters, singer/songwriter (The Alarm)
- 17 March â Mike Lindup, singer/keyboard player (Level 42)
- 10 April â Brian Setzer, singer/guitarist (The Stray Cats)
- 21 April â Robert Smith, singer (The Cure)
- 27 April â Sheena Easton, singer
- 5 May â Ian McCulloch, singer (Echo & the Bunnymen)
- 22 May â Morrissey, singer (The Smiths, solo)
- 28 May â Steve Strange, singer (died 2015)
- 29 May â Mel Gaynor, drummer (Simple Minds)
- 5 June â Robert Lloyd, English singer
- 19 June â Dennis Fuller, Jamaican-born singer (London Boys) (d. 1996)
- 24 June â Andy McCluskey (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark)
- 28 June â Clint Boon, singer and keyboard player (Inspiral Carpets and The Clint Boon Experience)
- 30 June â Brendan Perry, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Dead Can Dance and The Scavengers)
- 1 July â Edem Ephraim, singer (London Boys) (d. 1996)
- 9 July â Jim Kerr, singer (Simple Minds)
- 16 July â James MacMillan, composer
- 18 July â Jonathan Dove, composer
- 5 August â Pete Burns, singer (Dead or Alive) (d. 2016)
- 6 August â Donna Lewis, singer
- 29 August â Eddi Reader, singer
- 24 September â Drummie Zeb, singer (Aswad) (d. 2022)
- 4 October â Chris Lowe, keyboard player (Pet Shop Boys)
- 10 October
- Kirsty MacColl, singer/songwriter (d. 2000)
- Steve Martland, composer, curator Factory Classical (d. 2013)
- 7 November â Richard Barrett, composer
- 27 November â Charlie Burchill, guitarist (Simple Minds)
- 1 December â Billy Childish, artist and musician
- 30 December â Tracey Ullman, actress and singer
- date unknown
- Paul Coletti, Scottish viola soloist and chamber musician
- John Palmer, composer, pianist and musicologist.
- Andi Spicer, electroacoustic composer (d.2020)
Deaths
- 11 March â Haydn Wood, violinist and composer (born 1882)
- 25 March â Billy Mayerl, pianist and composer (born 1902)
- 9 June â Sonnie Hale, actor and singer (born 1902)
- 6 September â Kay Kendall, musical comedy actress (born 1926) (leukaemia)
- 11 September â Ann Drummond-Grant, operatic contralto (born 1905)
- 21 September â Agnes Nicholls, operatic soprano (born 1877)
- 28 September â Gerard Hoffnung, German-born artist, musician and humorist (born 1925) (cerebral haemorrhage)
- 19 October â Stanley Bate, pianist and composer (born 1911) (suicide)
- 26 November â Albert Ketèlbey, pianist, conductor and composer (born 1875)
- 29 December â Robin Milford, composer (born 1903)
- 30 December â G. W. Briggs, hymn-writer (born 1875)
See also
References